Israeli President Reuven Rivlin inspected the Afghan section of the cemetery on the Mount of Olives Monday, a site which has seen repeated vandalism and destruction by some of East Jerusalem's Arab residents.

The rally organizers wished to protest the police barring Jews from the Temple Mount compound from the 17th of Tammuz (July 4), the date which starts the three weeks leading up to the 9th of Av, a period when Jews mourn the destruction of the Temple.